Freaky Frozen
by betterthanreindeers
Summary: Elsa now has to decide on a husband, but with all of the princes now flocking to Arendelle (including a Scottish girl who does not seem like a prince to her), Elsa has bigger problems... such as a cute princess from the south... and a body swap spell with her sister gone horribly wrong. (THE TITLE IS SO LAME IM SO SORRY)
1. Chapter 1

Elsa knew this day was going to happen at some point.

It was like when your parents always talked about the day you'd have to tidy your room for yourself, and you laughed it off until one day you were left with a messy room and parents that weren't there to tidy and-

_Ouch. Today was not the best time to bring up your parents, Elsa._

Anyway, Elsa took a deep breath.

It was like that.

She'd heard her parents (and later, servants) talking about this day, and she knew it was coming, but she still wasn't prepared when it actually happened. I mean, she'd been kind of busy and all with the whole _accidentally freezing a kingdom, running away, hurting Anna, almost getting crushed by a chandelier, getting locked up, escaping, almost getting killed, getting saved by Anna who then froze, crying, and then everything turning out weirdly okay _thing.

It had kind of pushed everything else out of the question.

And then, in the weeks following that, Elsa had spent most of it just enjoying being with her baby sister. Despite what most people thought, Elsa was way more energetic and excited than Anna in the first few weeks, waking Anna up every morning by dumping snow on her and demanding they build a snowman _right now._

Anna often didn't appreciate it, but then Elsa would remind her of how many times growing up that Anna had asked her but Elsa couldn't because she was _just protecting Anna and so she grew up in complete isolation without any friends _and the guilt trip would make Anna oblige.

They decided to keep these particular snowmen not alive, since one Olaf was hard enough to keep track of.

Ugh.

Elsa's mind was wandering again, it always does that when it's nervous.

At least she doesn't say her thoughts out loud, like Anna.

Anyway, where was she?

Oh, right, the day was here.

The day she's been dreading for her entire life.

It was the day Elsa had to choose a husband.


	2. Chapter 2

It was uncomfortably warm in the large hall as Elsa, her advisor and her sister sat at the table.

The warm felt stifling, and Elsa was far too aware of the tight collar on her dress, giving her the sensation of being strangled.

She wanted to cool the room down a little, maybe make it snow a bit, but she knew Kai wouldn't approve. She looked over at her advisor now. He was holding a huge book in his hands, no doubt filled with eligible bachelors for the Queen's hand.

_Her hand. Ugh. _

It was as if she was being reduced to just her hand, just her marriage, and not, you know, the person.

_Plus, whoever gets my hand must realise he's getting the powers that come with it. _

She smirked to herself.

"Queen Elsa, I think it best we begin."

"Ugh, okay." Elsa tried to make her voice sound as annoyed and uninterested as possible so that Kai new exactly how fed up she was with the whole affair. She even leaned her head on her right hand for good measure.

Kai opened up the book and began reading.

"Prince number one, from the Western Peninsula. Very good army should the need for war arise, and also it would mend the bonds with their trade… unfortunately they are currently locked in war with France and any form of alliance would mean us entering the conflict as well…"

Kai trailed on for hours about each of the princes' varying effects on the politics of Arendelle. Elsa's eyes grew heavy, and in an attempt to keep herself awake she began slowly frosting over the surface of the table and drawing pictures in the frost.

She looked over to Anna, who was sitting there completely entranced in Kai's lecture.

_She should have been Queen. She actually cares about this stuff._

It wasn't until Kai said, "Queen Elsa?" that she'd realised he'd finished.

"Yes, um," she stood up, "I've made my decision."

Both pairs of eyes looked at her expectantly.

"And that is… I'm not making a decision. Not yet anyway. Look, you've given me a lot of really helpful information on politics and trade and stuff and I appreciate it, I really do. It's just… I kind of want to meet the person I'm going to marry? Before I marry them."

Her heart was beating rapidly.

She'd always played by the rules, always.

Always done what the perfect queen was expected to do.

This was the first time she'd ever done anything out of line. (Ignoring the whole freezing the kingdom thing).

But this time, she was sure.

She didn't want to pick anyone based on their assets to her country.

She wanted someone she liked.

Walking down the corridor of the palace, she smiled to herself. _Good going on the assertive thing. _

When she heard footsteps running behind her, she turned around.

Anna, slightly breathless, was smiling and obviously holding in laughter.

"Elsa, you should have seen Kai's face! He didn't know what to do! Oh my god that was so _badass! _You were just like 'nope' and then you just _left!_ Oh it was wonderful."

"I'm glad you think so." Elsa smiled. Then her smile faltered. "There's just one problem."

Anna's eyes turned worried.

"What is it, Elsa?"

"I'm going to have to socialise."


	3. Chapter 3

Elsa didn't like parties.

Like, Elsa really _really _didn't like parties.

The last one she'd been to… hadn't ended that well.

There were just so many people, most of whom Elsa didn't know. Which kind of terrified her.

Just the idea of talking to so many strangers made Elsa want to crawl back into bed for three thousand years.

So why did she think it was a good idea to try and meet so many princes at once?!

It was a rare moment of Anna-like impulsiveness.

And she greatly regretted it.

It had taken a few weeks of planning. It was decided that every country that wasn't currently hating Arendelle would send all of their eligible male heirs, as well as anyone else their court saw fit, for a three week long period of time, after which Elsa would have to make a decision.

That word, 'have', made Elsa shudder.

She _had _to.

There was no choice.

She couldn't escape this.

What if they were all dicks? What if she couldn't find anyone she liked? What if she was forced to make a choice and ended up with someone she never really connected with? What if she ended up with a _Hans?!_

The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

Was Elsa even capable of love? And not like family love like with Anna but with like _love _love? She'd never had feelings for anyone before, so why now? Was she really just expected to see someone and BAM she's gonna spend the rest of her life with them?

Ew.

It just wasn't how Elsa liked to do things. There was so much unknowable things that could happen, so many things she couldn't prepare for. And it made Elsa very uncomfortable.

And so, as Elsa stood at the port waiting for the many ships to arrive, her stomach felt full of bees and her legs were jelly. But she kept a graceful air about her. She was the poised Queen after all.

The first boat that came in was for Prince Andrew of Finland (having one of the shortest distances to cover.) He was gracious, as always, and bowed on one knee.

"It is an honour to finally meet you, Queen Elsa. Big nose."

Wait.

_What?!_

It took an embarrassingly long amount of time for Elsa to realise that the second part of that had not been said by the Prince before her, but by her sister muttering in her ear. She immediately snorted, but managed to play it off as a cough. She elbowed Anna in the side.

Andrew stood and Elsa was faced with the fact that, yes indeed, Prince Andrew of Finland did have an extremely large nose.

_Seriously, how does he even manage to kiss with that-_

Elsa's thoughts were cut short as the image of kissing him went through her head and made her gag.

_Well then, one down…_

It went on like this for a very long time. Each time a boat would arrive each with a new prince, they would bow and Anna would whisper something in her ear. ("Obviously wearing a wig." "Gay." "Tiny feet if you get what I mean.")

And then by the time Elsa had stopped even paying attention, Anna whispered "ooooh he's cute. Dibs!"

Elsa immediately looked at her sister.

"Anna, you're engaged."

"Oh, fine. I guess you can have him!"

Only then did Elsa look over to the prince standing in front of her. He was undeniably handsome, with dark colouring and a sparkling smile.

"Prince Aahil, of Arabia, your highness." He stuck out a hand.

Slightly taken aback by this odd way of greeting, Elsa shook hands with him, forgetting for a moment that her hands tend to cause trouble. It was only when Aahil went to take his hand away and found a thin layer of ice on it that Elsa even realised it had happened.

"Oh my goodness, I am so, so sorry." She babbled, losing her composure for a minute.

Fear began to creep back into her, clutching at her heart with it's black tendrils.

But the the feeling of Anna at her side, and Aahil's relaxed smile, made it lessen somewhat.

"No problem. I'm, uh, kind of used to this sort of thing." And with that cryptic message, Aahil turned and let.

Elsa was left staring at all of Prince Aahil's court, including a girl about her age who timidly stepped forward and curtseyed. She had the same smile as Aahil, but here eyes were darker, and her hair more curly and unruly, falling down over her red dress.

"Princess Humaira of Arabia, Your Highness."

_Ah, so they're related. That explains it._

Elsa waited for Anna's inevitable comment, but none came.

"I would like to apologise for my brother. He can be kind of… arrogant."

"Oh, no it's fine. Honestly. To tell you the truth he's one of the best I've seen yet."

"Really?" Humaira looked relived, biting her lip slightly.

"Yeah. You should see some of these princes. Prancing about in their fancy uniforms. At least Aahil didn't joke about the size of his sword."

Humaira laughed then, open mouthed and loud. It was so different to the subdued giggle Elsa usually got from servants, but it was refreshing.

"Anyway, later, Elsa!"

The princess skipped off after her brother.

Elsa was left with an odd feeling… and she wash't quite sure what it was.

And then the next ship was in. Elsa hadn't sat down in six hours.

"This is the last one of the day, your highness." Kai assured her.

Elsa looked at Anna, who was on her tiptoes, straining to get a look.

"Okaaaay, looking for feature to make fun of…" She was muttering, "I can't see him. I can only see HOLY MOTHER OF HAIR."

Coming down from the gangplank of the new ship was the largest amount of strikingly red hair Elsa had ever seen. And… yes, Elsa could just make out a person underneath it all.

"Jesus, Anna, her she could give you a run for your money in the ginger Olympics."

Anna scoffed.

"Oh please, you know I'm the supreme ginger."

The hair (and the person underneath) eventually made it off the boat to Elsa.

A couple of hands flew out from under the mane and pushed it back, so Elsa could see the round face of a girl.

"Sorry, the wind's made my hair even worse than it always is." She said in a thick Scottish accent.

"Anyway, Princess Merida of Dunbroch. Pleasure to meet you."


	4. Chapter 4

**_AUTHORS NOTE: _****Yes hello it is me hi. I forgot to really introduce this story, so let's do that now. This idea is pretty much stolen from this post ****_ post/78223754952/frozen-au-in-which-anna-and-elsa-wake-up-in-each. _****My mind started rolling and… yeah. Okay, here, I hope you like it!**

* * *

"So…" Elsa brought up this topic timidly, at the dinner that night. The hall was jam-packed, and yet Elsa had managed to be seated opposite the Scottish redhead anyway. "I was just wondering… how come you're the male heir? I mean not that a princess can't be heir but you did call yourself a princess and the notice was for princes, not that I'm not happy to have you I really am, but…"

She cut herself off then, placing her fingertips on her temples. _You've begun rambling, like Anna._

"It's a long story." Merida said, digging into her food.

"I've got time."

"Yeah, well I don't. I've got archery practice."

Elsa blinked. Archery practice? This strange girl comes all the way from Scotland to Arendelle, is in the middle of a huge feast with royalty from over thirteen countries and she has to go to archery practice?

Seeing her confused look, Merida explained.

"Archery is the only thing I'm really good at. I have to practice often or my mind goes all whoooo!" She motioned a confusing mess with her hands. "Also, if you must know, archery is the reason I'm the male heir."

"What?"

Merida seemed willing to talk now that Elsa was showing real interest and if it gave her a chance to talk about archery then, hey, so be it.

"Well, technically I'm the princess. But I'm also the prince. Because… well I was in a similar situation to you. Having to choose a prince. Except that totally wasn't my cup of tea. I prefer being wild and free like a majestic stallion."

Elsa laughed at the girls dramatics.

"Anyway, my mum was all like 'och, Merida you've got tae get yersel a groom!'" She put on an even broader accent to mimic her mother, "and she made the three sons from the three clans compete for my hand. Except she didn't say 'sons' she said 'eldest born'. So… I fought for my own hand. And I won."

And with that, Merida gave herself a satisfied smirk and continued stuffing her face with mashed potato.

"That is… certainly an inspiring story." Elsa said.

It got her thinking though. Was it possible she wouldn't have to marry? Was there really a way for her to rule without a King, or an heir?

She was still thinking when Anna walked over, a plate already loaded with chocolate cake even though the main course hadn't even finished yet.

"Scoot!" She commanded, bumping Elsa over with her hip and sitting beside her.

"Eyyyy." She said upon seeing Merida. "Ginger!"

"Ginger!" Merida agreed. "It's a family trait of my clan, all of us have hair "as red as roses" as my mum always puts it. To be honest I'd always seen myself as a bit of a ginger minger."

"A what?" Elsa was confused.

"A ginger minger. Wait do you guys not say that?" Merida stopped eating to look at the girls. "For god's sake, it's not that weird a phrase!"

The two girls just blinked at her.

"Ginger, as in ginger, as in red hair. Minger, as in disgusting. You guys are gonna have to get used to my language, cos I'm not even getting started. I'm talking aff yer hied, haud yer wheest, collywobbles, glaikit, lavvy-hieds, the lot!"

Anna and Elsa stared at Merida for a moment, before falling about in laughter.

"It's not funny!"

The redhead's stubbornness only managed to make it even funnier to Elsa, who's side began hurting.

As she laughed, her eyes caught on Princess Humaira, who was sitting across the room with a bored expression on her face, picking away at her food.

_I wonder what Aahil's jabbering on about now._

The prince seemed to be talking animatedly, flailing his arms about as he spoke. At one point he almost hit Humaira with his spoon, and she grabbed his hand and stabbed it with a fork, which only caused Elsa to resume her laughing at an even louder volume.

Even though the great hall was loud and filled with many people laughing, Humaira seemed to sense Elsa was laughing at her, and she looked over, an annoyed look in her eyes.

Cheeks flushing bright red, Elsa quickly stopped and sat up straight. But as Humaira saw who it was, her expression softened and she stuck her tongue out playfully.

Not quite sure how to react, Elsa blushed even harder and timidly stuck her tongue out too.

Without any hesitation, Humaira made a rude gesture with her middle finger that Elsa was shocked to see come from the Princess who, hours before, had been apologising for her brother's rudeness.

Elsa was just about to send back her very own gesture when she felt someone tapping her shoulder.

She turned around to see Kai.

"Your Highness, the final ship has arrived."

"Final ship?" Anna asked, her mouth full of chocolate. "I thought everyone was here?"

"No, there's one missing…" Elsa said. All of a sudden the room seemed too warm, too stifling and too loud as fear once again crept into her.

Suddenly the doors swung open, bringing in a cool breeze that made everyone stop and listen.

The hall fell silent.

And in strode a Prince, tall and thin, with brunette hair and glasses. Flanking him were two identical twins, each looking mischievous.

"Prince Alexander, your highness, at your service." He said, smirking.

"Prince Alexander?" Merida whispered. "Where's he from?"

With a shiver that had nothing to do with the breeze, Elsa replied.

"The Southern Isles."


	5. Chapter 5

The hall was completely silent as Alexander walked down the aisles between the tables. The only sound to be heard was the soft clicking of his boots on the stone floor. He walked with purpose and confidence, with his head up and his eyes looking straight into Elsa's.

Elsa had to avert her gaze. His eyes were unnerving.

Even Anna had the good sense to keep her mouth shut.

Elsa felt nothing, as if she was so scared that if she allowed herself to actually feel that fear, she'd shut down.

Conceal, don't feel she thought with a twisted smile at the irony of it all.

Time seemed to go in slow motion as Alexander made his way towards Elsa. Everyone in the room seemed to sense the tension, as no one said anything. The two twins flanking the prince were swaggering along, staring threateningly at the party goers.

"Your majesty." He said when he'd eventually reached her, and then bowed on one knee. Even though his words and actions were polite, there was a hint of spite and sarcasm there.

"You weren't invited, Alexander." Elsa struggled to keep her voice steady, and her tone authoritative. She didn't want a repeat of the last time Arendelle had hosted a party.

"I know." Alexander smirked. "But I just couldn't give up the opportunity to, ah something stupid. She hadn't quite figured it out yet but it involved Prince Alexander of the Southern Isles getting a little bit of that Northern Chill. But it didn't matter, because right at that moment, there was a large clunk from behind her, and then a person laughing extremely loudly.

All eyes turned, including Elsa's, but she knew who it was before she'd even turned around. She'd heard that laugh before.

And sure enough, head completely on the table, chortling extremely loudly, was princess Humaira. This did nothing to break the tension in the vast hall, and in fact maybe caused it to go up a little.

Elsa sat there for who knows how long, staring at the girl who'd simultaneously saved her from an incredibly awkward situation, but placed her in a different one. She didn't move her eyes from Humaira, because if she did then she'd have to face Alexander again.

So Elsa didn't move. For a long time. For a very long time. She focused on the curl of Humaira's hair, the way it bounced and shook as she laughed, and the muffled snorts coming from her face, buried in her arms upon the table. She stared for a long time.

For such a long time, that Humaira managed to calm down and raise her head from the table.

"Queen Elsa?" She said, confused.

This knocked Elsa out of her stupor, who immediately blushed bright red, and swiftly turned her head away.

"What did that idiot prince do now?" Alexander's snide tone chimes in again.

Only then does Elsa realise what had cause Humaira to laugh so hard.

Prince Aahil now sat with a singed fringe, looking completely unamused at the whole situation.

"What?!" He demanded of the silent hall. "Never seen a clumsy person before?! Someone should really fix that candle it's a health and safety hazard." He crossed his arms indignantly, looking totally ridiculous with his burnt hair. Elsa stifled a giggle, but a sigh from the prince behind her made her stiffen again, suddenly aware again of what was going on.

"Don't worry." Alexander said, his voice snide, "I'm sure Elsa can cure those burns. That is, if she doesn't freeze the whole kingdom again."

"Hey, you… mean person!" Anna stood up before Elsa could defend herself. She totally would have though. She would have said something witty and insulting that would have made Alexander feel totally foolish… she didn't have anything planned but she totally _would have._

But instead Anna was defending her.

Which she was okay with.

"Elsa was only trying to protect me, and plus, she's learnt to control her powers now. She hasn't even made it snow by accident in about a week!"

Elsa sunk in her chair.

"Plus, we wouldn't even have had that problem if your dweeb of a brother hadn't tried to marry me!"

Alexander looks taken aback; apparently he hadn't counted on being yelled at by a princess.

"W-well technically you agreed to marry him-"

"Because I thought he wasn't a total douche! But guess what?! He was! And because of that we severed all ties with your stupid country, and now you have the stupidity to turn up and complain about it?!"

The prince looked at the twins flanking him for backup, but both of them just stared at their feet, and one of them began to whistle.

Elsa just sat there, in between the two, eyes darting nervously from one to the other. Anna's anger seemed to calm down, and she laughed awkwardly.

"Nevermind." She sat down.

"No, don't never mind!" This time it was Merida who came to Elsa's aid. "From what I've heard of this Hans guy, he was a complete tube!"

Everyone once again stopped to look at her.

Elsa was extremely aware of the couple hundred people in the hall who had been watching this all unfold. Once again she felt stifled, the room too warm. She needed to get away.

"What?! He is a tube! Anyway, they had every right not to invite you to the party after what he did! This was for eligible bachelors and they sure as hell aren't gonna marry one of you after last time!"

Merida's words reached Elsa's ears, but they sounded tinny, as if Elsa was underwater. She stared at her feet, not wanting to make eye contact.

Her collar felt too tight as she struggled to breathe.

Merida continued ranting, but Elsa could no longer make out the words. They just sounded like white noise.

All too late, she realised what was happening.

Spots began to burst before her eyes, and she weakly grabbed onto Alexander's coat. He stepped away, startled, and Elsa finally lost her balance.

She fainted in front of the entire hall.

Brilliant.


	6. Chapter 6

Elsa woke up immediately remembering everything. Weren't you meant to wake up all fuzzy and mumble 'what happened' and then someone would gently remind you that you fainted as you swam back into consciousness?

But no, Elsa had the amazing luck to wake up after fainting, painfully aware of it all. How she'd humiliated herself, how Alexander had threatened her, how those twins had looked at her.

The thing that Elsa was finding it hardest to focus on wasn't the past, it was the present.

It seemed that keeling over hadn't made the spots go away, and she blinked a few times. Elsa sat bolt upright extremely quickly, which was a bad idea, as her head immediately collided with someone else's.

"OW!" The person said. Elsa apologised, feeling her forehead. There was probably some medical repercussions of suffering a blow to the head so soon after fainting, right? She'd need to get her doctor to look at it.

"I am so sorry." Elsa said, still unable to focus her eyes. Instead, she used her other senses. She was lying down, but it didn't feel like the hard floor of the hall. In fact, she felt the soft weight of a duvet over her. She must be in a bed.

"It's okay, it's okay, my bad for leaning over you like that. You'd started mumbling so I was gonna shake you awake but I guess you kind of did that of your own accord, huh?"

Elsa eventually managed to focus on who was talking, but she'd already guessed from her voice.

Humaira stood by her bedside, also rubbing her forehead. Elsa figured it was probably a different day. How long had she been unconscious? Had it been days? Were the festivities over? Who had been taking care of Arendelle in her absence? Anna was probably really worried about her oh god. Had they made a decision on her marriage on her behalf?

"Are you ready to go back to the feast, or do still feel kind of eugh?" Humaira asked.

"Wait," Elsa croaked, "the feast is still going on?"

"You were only out for, like, twenty minutes. Me and your sister just got you into bed when you started mumbling and, well… you know." She gestured vaguely to her forehead.

"Oh, yeah, right, sorry about that." Elsa said, her face growing warm.

Suddenly the shame of everything that had happened washed over her, and she over-dramatically flipped over and shoved her face in a pillow.

_Maybe if I stay here forever Anna can become queen and everyone will just leave me alone. _

She heard Humaira laugh behind her, and it struck her just how often she seemed to laugh.

"Stop laughing." Elsa said kind of half-seriously. But with the pillow muffling her and her overly-moody tone, Humaira just laughed louder. She did have a really nice laugh.

"I'm sorry, your highness."

"You can call me Elsa," she said, lifting her head off the pillow slightly, "You've flipped me off, and I've fainted in front of you, I'm pretty sure we've reached that point."

"Have we reached the point of me hitting you with a pillow and telling you to stop feeling sorry for yourself?"

"You're going to do it regardless, aren't you?"

Elsa was answered by a pillow thumping the back of her head.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself!"

"You don't understand." Elsa sat up on the bed, noticing that Humaira had sat down whilst her face was in the pillow. "I made a total fool of myself. In front of Alexander as well! I don't know if you've heard but a few years ago his brother Hans tried to marry my sister and-"

"I don't need the backstory, Elsa, everyone in the English speaking world knows what Hans did."

"Oh." Elsa shut her mouth. "Right."

Awkward silence ensued, and even though Elsa had formulated a perfect comeback, it was now way too late to say it. She should have gone 'you're not from the English speaking world, moron' and then Humaira would have gone 'that just makes it even worse!'

Except she didn't. So they just sat in silence, as Elsa absent-mindedly picked at her left hand.

"You didn't make a fool of yourself." Humaira said softly. Elsa almost didn't hear her. But she did. And she laughed, but without joy.

"Are you kidding? I fainted in front of everyone, and that was the _least _embarrassing thing that happened." She could feel her throat tightening and her eyes pricking with tears. "You don't even understand how scared I am of Alexander. Hans was the baby of the family, and he tried to kill Anna. What's this one capable of?" The tears began falling now, and Elsa cursed herself. _All these years of subduing emotion, and you have to cry in front of a girl you're just met? _

_Then again, the 'hiding emotions' strategy kind of messed everything up. And it feels good to cry. _

"Look," Humaira hesitantly put her hand on Elsa's shoulder, and when she didn't pull away she smiled. "Alexander's not gonna try anything with everyone here. Plus, Hans managed to do all that stuff cos you trusted him. Don't trust this one."

She made it sounds so simple.

"Plus, it's the twins you have to watch out for."

"What do you mean?" Elsa turned to face her, and Humaira smiled wider, wrinkling her nose slightly. That was the moment Elsa realised that nose wrinkles were cute. For a totally unrelated reason. That had nothing to do with anything.

"His brothers, Derek and Damien. They're psychopaths."

"Wait, those are his _brothers?!" _Elsa thought back to the twins who'd been behind Alexander in the hall. They'd given off a dangerous aura, even though they hadn't even done anything. Their eyes were wide and restless, as if they were just waiting for something to destroy. But still, there was no way they could be princes.

They could not be related to Hans or Alexander.

Sure, they were both dicks, but they weren't the same kind of dangerous as those twins.

"Yeah, I heard that they set their palace on fire one time for the fun of it. They're bad news, cos they don't manipulate you. They don't rely on trust. That means that you can know they're dangerous, but not be able to stop them. At least with Hans and Alexander they can't hurt you if you don't trust them."

Elsa was confused. Was Humaira trying to comfort her or not?

Usually the thought of dangerous pyromaniac twins would have made Elsa's stomach turn, but Humaria's hand on her shoulder calmed her. It was warm, which usually Elsa hated, but it was a nice kind of warm. Not smothering, like the heat of the feast hall.

"Do you want to go back to the feast?"

Elsa was really tempted to do what she always did; shrug and say she didn't mind.

But, yes, she did mind. That feast made her _super _uncomfortable. She did not want to go back.

And, for some reason, Elsa felt okay telling Humaira this. So she shook her head silently.

"Okay then." Humaira said.

No '_but you're the Queen'. _No '_man up and deal with it.' _Just '_okay then'._

Elsa wanted to cry. But in a good way.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"No problem."

There was another silence, but this one was less awkward. Elsa sat there, staring at her hands. It was so weird to be in the room she'd used to shut herself away from the world for all this time. She'd spent so many nights with snow suspended in the air, crying. She was scared of herself, which sucked because, no matter how much she locked doors, she could get away from her own powers.

But here she was, in that room that she'd used to shut herself out from anyone who'd accept her, with someone she felt completely open with.

Not even Anna had been in this room. Elsa tended to sleep in the room they'd both shared before, well, you know. Elsa had had to build up a lot of courage to return to this room by herself.

But here she was with Humaira. And it wasn't weird at all.

Which was, in itself, weird.

Wait what was going on? Elsa was lost in thought.

"...so, yeah, I kind of get what you're going through." Humaira was saying.

Elsa was so mad at herself. She'd completely zoned out and Humaira had been talking about something that was probably really personal and she'd just not listened.

_Wow, I'm an asshole._

She couldn't ask Humaira to repeat herself because then she'd know that she hadn't been listening. So Elsa just nodded vaguely.

"You weren't paying attention, were you?" Humaira said, sounding forlorn. Guilt washed over Elsa.

"I'm so so sorry."

"No, no, it's fine." the girl grinned, her playful tone returning. "I just told you a secret, but I guess you're not getting it now…"

"What?! No tell me!" Elsa pleaded.

"Nuhuh, that's what you get for not listening."

"Oh come on! You can't tell me you have a secret and then not tell me what it is! That's against the rules!"

"What rules?"

"The rules of LIFE!" Elsa poked Humaira in the side, and she immediately began to shriek.

After a long amount of giggling, Humaria lay face down clutching her side, trying to catch her breath.

"You're an asshole." She said, and Elsa just laughed.

"You better learn to deal with that." Anna's voice came from down the corridor. Her footsteps approached, and her head popped around the door.

"I've said it many times, but my dear sister is a terrible person. Did you know she shut me out for like _twelve years?"_

"WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS, ANNA!" Elsa threw a pillow at Anna's face.

"I see you're feeling better then." The redhead said after ducking from the projectile pillow.

"Much thank you."

"Sorry I couldn't stay, I had to be, like, royal and stuff. It's fine, though, Kristoff showed up so I didn't mess up too bad."

"I'm glad. We all know how awkward you are."

"Whaaaat? Nooooo, I'm neeeever awkward." Anna said, whilst simultaneously losing her grip on the door handle and stumbling.

"Uhuh." Elsa said, vindicated.

"Shut up."

Humaira began to laugh again.

_Seriously this girl laughs so much it's unreal._

Elsa didn't return to the feast that night.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Elsa woke up in her bed again. In her old room. She'd been so tired she'd forgotten to go back to her and Anna's room, and she'd ended up sleeping in the place where she'd locked herself away for her whole childhood.

But, try as she might, Elsa couldn't be sad.

After a quick wash and a breakfast of stolen chocolate (well, it wasn't _stolen_. She was the queen after all. It was just...taken without the cook's knowledge), Elsa ran into the town square to find that everyone had already begun the festivities and Alexander and his brothers were nowhere to be seen. The sun was shining and people were milling about between various stalls, each selling things from each of the princes' countries. There were a lot of people there, but no one seemed to notice her arriving late (or maybe they all did but they were ignoring it because, as previously mentioned, Elsa was the queen.)

_The queen. _

_I'm never gonna get over saying that. _

_Me, the queen. _

_Queen Elsa. _

_Hella-_

"Elsa!"

Humaira ran across the square to her. Her hair looked even darker in the bright sunlight, and you could see her light freckles and her skin was so beautiful and-

_Calm down Elsa. _

_..._

_She's so cute though._

"You're late!" She crossed her arms and cocked her head, giving a mock-unamused expression.

"Sorry!"

"Elsa, I'm kidding!" Humaira uncrossed her arms and grinned.

"Oh, right, sorry!"

The unamused expression Elsa received made her feel the need to apologise again, but she figured it would be best for her to hold her tongue.

"Come on, you're going to want to see this!"

Without even hesitating, Humaira grabbed Elsa's hand and dragged her through the crowd.

_That's very strange. She doesn't even think about these things. I am the _Queen. _She can't just drag me wherever-_

_Oh of course she can. _

_It's not like I've got anywhere else to go._

They pushed through, with Humaira shoving past people and everyone turning around with annoyed words on their lips that were quickly swallowed when they saw Elsa, and replaced with bows and 'your majesty's.

Eventually Humaira slowed down, and turned to look at Elsa, releasing her hand. Even though Elsa couldn't see anything through the crowd, she could hear what the assumed Humaira had wanted to show her.

"COME ON YOU BAWBAGS! SQUARE GO! YOU CAN'T TAKE ME I BET YA!"

Humaira was badly stifling a giggle.

"Wait who is- _Merida!" _Elsa yelled as she finally saw who'd been making the scene (although with that accent she really should have guessed before.)

The redhead had created a space in the crowd and was walking about swinging a bow and arrow at perplexed looking citizens. When she caught sight of the two girls, her face light up and her hair bounced.

"Hiya! Do you wanna try?"

"Try what?" Elsa warily glanced at the weapon in her hand.

"I'm challenging people to beat me in an archery contest!"

The whole crowd turned to look at the queen expectantly. A few even bowed.

"Uuuuh…"

She looked around. She couldn't say no. Not in front of everyone here. Humaira gave her an encouraging grin.

There's only one problem.

_How the frik do you shoot a bow and arrow?!_

She found herself putting her hands out to Merida, who placed the bow in it. The crowd cheered, and she forced herself to smile confidently.

Merida walked over to the centre of the circle, and the crowd went silent. She raised the bow and arrow to her cheek, and sucked in her gut. It was the first time Elsa realised that Merida was, you know, a princess. It was the first time she'd ever looked anything resembling regal.

There was a hush over everyone in the square, and Elsa found herself holding her breath. Merida had the whole place under her spell. And then, she released the arrow and everything was over in a split second.

_Bullseye._

_Obviously._

The crowd cheered.

And then they all stared at Elsa.

She walked over to the spot where Merida was standing, and assumed the stance she thought was right.

She hesitantly created a sleek arrow out of ice. The crowd all cheered. Elsa felt pride swell in her. This was what she'd been dreaming of her whole life. She can finally be herself without fear. She looked over to Humaira, who was smiling and clapping.

Elsa calmly notched the arrow, and aimed it at the target. She closer her right eye, as Merida did, but then she tried closing the left. As she did the target seemed to jump to the right and the arrow was no longer pointing at it.

_Crap what eye do I close?_

She took a wild guess at her left eye, and aimed. She flinched as she let go of the arrow. Both of her eyes were clamped shut. The crowd let out an audible gasp, which could be either good or bad as far as Elsa saw it.

She opened her eyes, and her shoulders slumped when she realised that she'd not hit the target. In fact, she must have been WAY off because she couldn't find her arrow anywhere.

She could hear whispers of _'what happened?_' and '_I don't know it just melted.'_

Merida walked over to her.

"Your arrow melted for some reason. Maybe you could use this one?" She held up a wooden arrow. Elsa took it, red in the face. As she did Merida leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Try closing your right eye next time. Also face more side on, and lift your elbow up higher."

Elsa was grateful for the advice. She wouldn't completely embarrass herself. But she couldn't shake an uneasy feeling.

_Something she'd created melted? That had never happened before. Or at least, not without her wanting it to._

_Was her power weakening?_

She pushed the thought to one side, and notched the wooden arrow, trying to correct her stance in the way she'd been told.

This time, she didn't flinch or close her eyes. She kept still and released the arrow.

Unfortunately, it never met its target.

Because it was on fire.

People screamed and backed away. The target was aflame and it was spreading to a stall selling some kind of pastry.

Elsa panicked. She hated fire, for obvious reasons. And everyone screaming wasn't making it any better.

"Queen Elsa! Do something!" Someone yelled.

"Like what?!" Elsa's throat was closing up and she could feel the heat of the fire uncomfortably close.

"Use your ice powers!"

"Oh yeah right!"

It was rushed. Elsa was panicking and scared. In hindsight, Elsa always said she should have calmed down. But she didn't.

Instead, she thrust her arm out at random, sending a sheet of ice to stop the fire. It worked, which was the positive.

The negative, was that it didn't stop. The ice kept on going. It was uncontrollable. It covered the whole square, and it spiked everywhere. People pulled their children out of the way.

But Elsa saw none of this.

Because she was already gone.


End file.
